Colorado doctors reduce prescription to combat drug abuse

DURANGO, Colo. (AP) — Preventing opioid addiction can start in a doctor's office, which is why hospitals and clinics across southwest Colorado are cutting back on prescribing opioids such as codeine and oxycodone.

More than 42,000 people from across the country died in 2016 by opioid overdose, setting a record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Colorado, heroin was responsible for 228 deaths, and opioid-related deaths totaled 300 during the same year.

"I don't think people realize how bad it really is and how embedded it is," said Mary Dengler-Frey, regional...